Kathleen A Hunt – Unique Law

We got referred to Kathleen by a friend to help with some estate planning. She was willing to come over to our house for a consultation on a weekend at a convenient. After speaking with her and describing our situation to her she said that while she could do what we needed that there were much cheaper alternatives available and recommended one. After deciding (with her) that the option she recommended would be fine for us we tried to pay her for her time but she refused as this was just a «free consultation». A very high standard of integrity and professionalism, we’ll definitely be back if our situation changes.

Kathleen A Hunt is professional, very organized and knowledgeable. She does not put on airs, is down to earth, and seeks what is best for the client. She follows up on her calls and there is no waiting and wondering what is next. She completes her work on a timely basis. Her fee for a restated Trust is very reasonable. I did not miss the big fancy office with a view. She works from her home and offers other options for meetings.
From her vast experience working with people, she understands that Trust and Estate matters are a big deal for us, that we may change our minds or find out more information to add to the Trust. She offers making updates to the Trust — free– for the first year.
I will definitely recommend Kathleen to my friends and associates.

Kathleen is fantastic! My wife and I recently set up a revocable trust with Kathleen, and we have only great things to say. She takes the process of setting up an estate plan — something that can be quite complex and convoluted — and guides her clients through it easily, efficiently and effectively. Additionally, she is super responsive over email, is willing to meet in evenings either at her home office or at her clients’ homes, and is very helpful in advising on how to move various assets into the trust, even after the trust has been created. Her fixed price approach is great also, because she’s not counting her billable hours, nor are clients worried that every email question will rack up more charges. All in all, we couldn’t have been more pleased, and we are more than happy to recommend Kathleen to anyone looking to set up an estate plan.

Well that was easy! Her prices are listed on her website. No hidden costs here. She comes to your home. She asks questions. She’s honest. She returns with the Family Trust documents. You get to review everything and then it’s finished. Well not quite, you do have a bit of homework, but hey — it’s your money! Thank you Kathleen. Putting this off way too long probably because we needed to find you for our attorney.

OMG! In an effort to avoid repetition, let me just say that a meeting with Kathleen is SO much better than therapy. All of those conversations that we had neatly avoided – for years– were right there within minutes. And, when there was a point that we were clearly in need of further conversation, she neatly extricated herself from it. The week of preparing for the living trust was difficult, but we both felt that we had Kathleen there to guide us. She is both professional and warm — and efficient — a most unusual combination. I could not be more thrilled to say that we have a lawyer we can count on for honesty and thoughtful responses. Wow!

Kathleen Hunt came to our home instead of us having to leave and meet her after a long day of work for both my husband and I. She was not only on time, but she was early and well prepared to answer the many questions we had about trust administration. She gave us her undivided attention and made us feel comfortable and relaxed in her presence. She is friendly and polite and knows her stuff. She gave us some invaluable advice and guided us to make best decisions. She was a calm voice amid the storm. She even gave us advice on how we could accomplish some of the tasks on our own, saving money. We conferred with her some weeks before it was time to administer the trust. When the dust had cleared in our lives and it was time to start our trust administration, she was busy with her caseload, and couldn’t take our case, but we were so appreciative of her free one hour consultation and all the information and confidence she imparted to us. She returns calls and emails in a very timely fashion and even called us again just to check up on how we were doing. We would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an honest, upfront, knowledgeable, intelligent lawyer. Really… how many lawyers come to YOUR home anymore? This was more than convenient and appreciated amid our busy and grief filled lives right now. Thank you Kathleen!

I will enthusiastically echo all the other 5-​star comments as to Kathleen’s work. My wife and I needed to update our estate documents which were initially prepared by another attorney in 2011. Kathleen not only painlessly guided us through the changes we wanted to make, she also identified several improvements to make from the original document prep. She is extremely thorough and well-​organized and her work was done promptly and on-​time as promised and at a fair price. Without hesitation, we would send anyone looking for an estate planning attorney to call Kathleen first!

Kathleen helped my husband and me create a revocable trust, something we had been planning to do for quite some time. She more than exceeded our expectations in her expertise, service, and focus on our specific needs. We highly recommend her. You won’t be disappointed.

This review is long over due…
Let me keep this short and simple: friendly personality, quick turn-​around time, knowledgable, straight-​forward, hassle-​free and reasonable price.
Kathy is great at what she does. She helped me set up our LLC and she wrote up our wills (my husband and I did ours separately) and she didn’t nickel & dime us to death like most lawyers would. Thanks for your honesty!

I made a lot of phone calls before finding Kathleen. A number of the people I talked to were slick attorneys that wanted nothing more than to upsell their services. I found Kathleen on Unilocal,where she has unfiltered 5 star reviews across the board.
I planned to retain Kathleen for a post-​nuptial agreement, prior to buying a house. After the first phone call, she told me how I could do it cheaper. We then made an appointment to meet. She drove across the bay on a weeknight, to meet me at my home after work for a free consultation. It turns out there was a no cost legal workaround for my situation. Have you ever heard of a lawyer that looks out for clients like that? Not only did she save me a ton of money on my post-​nup, she also answered some questions I had about a trust I have.
Kathleen is an incredibly HONEST, knowledgeable and down-​to-​earth estate planning attorney. Once I buy my house, I plan to hire her to complete my estate plan.

Kathleen helped us with our wills and setting up a family trust. She is very down-​to-​earth and explained everything thoroughly and in layman’s terms. I got her referral on Berkeley Parents Network and am extremely pleased with the service and attention she has provided. I appreciate the time she took to help guide us through all of the decisions surrounding our wills and trust. It is not an easy process and she has a great way of interacting with her clients. She was extremely patient with many of our flip-​flopping on decisions and even came back to our house over the weekend so we could sign addendums to our wills after we had initially executed. If you are looking for someone to help with estate planning, she is a great resource!

Kathleen not only helped me with getting the deed to my house under my name but helped me with my living trust. She was very knowledgeable, professional, patient, and explained everything very clearly before we even got started. She did a free consult to explain everything before I went any further. I called many attorneys and her costs were reasonable. I met with her at her home but she will come to your home.
Kathleen is not only unique but she is a caring, professional, down to earth woman who I HIGHLY recommend!

Value: Excellent
Free consult: Kathleen makes it very clear that the consult is free and you are under no obligation to hire her at the consult. 45 minutes into the consult, we were done and Kathleen asked if we wanted to go forward. Kathleen was prepared with contracts with our names and address. I was a little taken aback, not expecting it, but liked her well enough to proceed.
Personality: Low key, pleasant, patient, and careful with her responses verbally and via email. She is clear about the limits of her expertise and doesn’t exceed those limits. Detail-​oriented. She doesn’t «sell» you. I’ve interviewed at least 8 estate attorneys over the past few years and Kathleen is the FIRST one I hired. She can handle my directness and my partner’s mellowness — she gently but firmly ensured my partner was an equal participant in discussions.
Cost: Kathleen has several estate planning packages listed on her website — all are flat fees. Her current hourly rate is $ 175/​hour for anything outside of estate planning. She works on retainer basis only. We paid her fee at the first meeting. Her cost is reasonable for her services. She gives a free hour consult to your trustee after your death.
Estate Planning Interview: Tell Kathleen if you have a business and how it is held (LLC vs sole proprietorship) or any non-​personal accounts and ask her how to avoid probate on such things. Also tell her if someone owes you money. Basically, tell her everything involving your assets/​money. Kathleen takes notes by hand.
Convenience: Having Kathleen come to our house was much easier than having to find parking and talk about our private stuff in a strange environment. Kathleen also sees clients in SF and South Bay, so not just East Bay.
Drafts/​Post Interview: Kathleen will not email you a draft. I asked her when she was going to draft the docs and we sent her our preferences/​questions/​changes from the first meeting up until the evening before she drafted. If you think you need more time to come up with questions, you can ask her to hold off drafting docs. At minimum, email her a beneficiary list of names and locations, so spelling is correct on her final draft.
Email: Kathleen is responsive via email, especially when there is a deadline. Answering questions included in flat fee. This was important to me. Kathleen has answered at least 50 questions just from me alone thus far.
Customization: Kathleen will customize your Revocable Trust and Will, etc. Not just boiler plate. I compared my estate docs to that of another person who had hired an estate attorney specializing in taxes and trusts — my docs are much easier to read.
Signing & Docs: 2 weeks after we met, Kathleen returned to the house for the signing process. Ask Kathleen who can witness. Note: Kathleen is a notary public as well, so convenient. While I would have preferred time to read the docs beforehand (she doesn’t send drafts), Kathleen explained each doc. She also included separate page of fiduciaries and a detailed, six page explanation of EACH trust provision. The estate docs themselves are printed on very nice heavyweight paper and it comes in a black folder with sleeves.
Follow Up Letter: 3 weeks after we signed docs, Kathleen sent us a follow up letter reminding us of assets to re-​title in the trust’s name. This was very useful as not all accounts can be in the trust’s name. Prepare to spend significant time dealing with each financial institution’s policies and be prepared to make multiple trips to the bank getting docs notarized or medallion stamped or bank officer certified.
Updates: You get free updates for a period of time per your package choice. The clock starts ticking from the date of your first meeting. Updates cost half as much as your package. Most people do an update a month before the expiration date. Kathleen will notify you via email or phone call or letter if there are changes in estate law that could affect you.
Drawbacks: 1. Will not email any docs containing your personal info; 2. Does not give tax law advice or real estate advice. In other words, we scanned our signed hard copy estate docs and sought tax advice elsewhere.
The benefits of interacting with Kathleen FAR outweighed the drawbacks. She knows the ins and outs of CA estate law, plus I greatly appreciate her accessibility via email and her insights & observations. She makes estate planning a fast and painless process while being thorough. I HIGHLY recommend Kathleen.

I highly recommend Kathleen Hunt, an excellent wills and trust attorney, at 510−289−2288. We have just finished working with Kathleen on a family trust. Kathleen is a very knowledgeable estate attorney, is very ethical and is a pleasure to work with. She did an excellent job of simplifying estate issues and the complicated language often used in these documents. Although Kathleen is based in El Cerrito, she has clients throughout the Bay Area and is more than willing to meet with clients at their homes. She came to our home twice – both times over a weekend – so we were able to complete everything easily within 7 – 10 days. She has several wills and estate package plans – all priced quite reasonably – and did not try to sell us a plan that was more than we needed. We are very pleased with the help she gave us and can sleep better at night knowing that we have set things up properly for our children.

Kathleen Hunt help us set up a trust. She is not only knowledgeable and good at what she does, but she made me feel very comfortable. I didn’t know much about estate planning but Kathleen explained everything to me in a way that I can understand. She is reliable, humble, and professional. She actually cares for you rather than your money. If all attorneys were like Kathleen, we would have a better world. A unique attorney for unique law. Definitely recommended!

Well I normally just come to Unilocal and search for good business or service when I need it, like an auto shop or a restaurant. It was the same this time — when my family had some legal issue, I came here and looked for an attorney around my area. Since I usually just read others’ reviews, you can see that I even did not have a registered user name till now. Why different this time? I think Kathleen deserves a good review because of her service and her personality.
When I looked for an attorney for my family, I looked at the ones with good reviews from Unilocal veterans, not some reviewer like me with 1 or 2 reviews. You know what I mean. Then I found a couple of candidates. So I contacted each of them. Someone simply replied «this is not my expertise» even their website said it is (I know it is probably because our case looks too small in their mind.); someone just wants to arrange a meeting, of course there would be a rate for the meeting. Then I got the response from Kathleen. Actually I missed her 1^st phone call, she then left a message and also replied to my email. In the email, she did not push me for a meeting or conference call, instead, she asked about the question I have. Therefore, I «briefly» introduced the case (I thought it is brief, but actually when I looked my email. It is a long one, just like this review.), then waiting for her email to call a meeting or a call. I have been dealing with several attorneys before, I know what they usually do and I understand that is how it works. However, to my surprise, Kathleen replied within a couple of hours and addressed to each of my questions. Therefore, I got «spoiled» and asked more questions… then she replied promptly. back and forth, 30 emails and several phone calls! Can you imagine that anyone else can be that patient? Then we reached the point I think I need she to help me with some legal action to protect my family’s right. This is the first time she said her service rate. I thought her rate was reasonable so of course I made an appointment with her and brought my check book because I knew if I need to hire an attorney, she would be the right one!
When I arrived, she welcomed me warmly and sat down and listened carefully. I have strong foreign accent and know nothing about those legal terms, but there is no problem for us to communicate and she explained everything clearly in layman terms. She also reviewed my 40pages documents and pointed out everything important, most of which I was not sure what it meant before her explanation. During the whole meeting, I did not feel like talking to attorney who was trying to «sell», instead, I felt like a good friend was trying to help me out. After a 40-​minute meeting, Kathleen gave me her advice —- my family already got the best benefits in current situation. If we are still concerned about several minor questions, we can hire her to make phone calls and write letters to figure them out, but she suggested me to do it by myself since those calls and letters would not get my family more. In her opinion, it would be kinda of waste of money. Can you believe that? I think Kathleen is an honest person whom you seldom meet nowadays, especially for her career. All of her advice sounded coming from a good friend. And the meeting turned out to be a free consultation as she insisted!
So after all, I give Kathleen 5 stars for being an attorney who is more like a friend!

I wish I could give Kathleen more than 5 stars. My wife and I just hired her again, this time to help us with estate planning and a Living Trust. Just like the first time we worked with Kathleen, she showed herself to be incredibly knowledgeable, professional and prepared. She guided us though the important questions and helped us find a way to clearly state our wishes in our wills and medical directives. Kathleen was thorough and patient, answering any question with legal expertise and considerable insight into how to avoid future problems. She consistently went above and beyond in her service (again), and it that isn’t reason enough to hire her, consider that Kathleen’s prices are some of the most reasonable around. If you are looking for a lawyer in the Bay Area, do yourself a favor and call Kathleen. I cannot recommend her more highly.

My husband and I needed some basic estate planning documents, and we thought we needed a Living Trust. Kathleen came to our house for a free consultation, asked us some questions, and ascertained that we didn’t necessarily need the Living Trust and could do the Wills and DPAs ourselves using Nolo software. She gave us Healthcare Directive forms and explained how to fill them out. She didn’t charge us a penny, and seemed very pleased that the free consultation was valuable to us. We won’t hesitate to hire her if we run into a wall with our do-​it-​yourself plan. She’s clearly knowledgeable and ethical, and we feel very comfortable with her.

I was stressing out about discrepancies between advice in the NOLO book Plan Your Estate, and a lawyer’s draft of living trust documents. The Berkeley Parent’s Network gave Kathleen numerous glowing reviews for knowledgeability, interpersonal skills, a down-​to-​earth manner, and affordability, so I called to run my concerns by her. She explained, in clear and concise terms, why everything I described sounded above board. Just as important, she did so in a way that helped me let go of feeling stupid for having to ask in the first place. I offered to pay for her time, twice. She declined both. I’m going to have the original lawyer finish this particular paperwork, but for future lawyering needs, Kathleen will be the first person I call.

Kathleen Hunt of Unique Law helped us create an LLC for our business and a Living Trust for our family. She is very good at explaining decisions in terms we could understand, sincere and reliable. What’s more, she meets with you in your home, and her fees are very reasonable compared to other attorneys. Both times the process was rapid and we felt well taken care of.